


Singularity S1E4: "Singular Focus"

by Marc_Quill



Series: Marc Quill's Singularity [5]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Conspiracy Thriller, M/M, Mystery, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-11 22:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7910209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marc_Quill/pseuds/Marc_Quill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the Singularity conspiracy begins to target those closest to her, Skye digs deeper in the mysteries that haunt her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**_Previously on_ Singularity…**

Skye, a young woman with fractured memories of her past and superhuman abilities, finds herself on the streets of Toronto one January evening. For an unknown reason, Skye is being trailed by Samuel Brandt, an ex-JTF-2 operative working under the employ of a man only known as “The Chief”, who wishes to have Skye brought to him – dead or alive.

She subsequently runs into Finch “Finn” Finwick, who enthusiastically wants to assist Skye in her search for the truth. Now, the two must uncover an expansive conspiracy that has Skye in its crosshairs.

After suffering from a memory lapse when visiting a hospitalized Isaac Ellerton, Skye turned her attention to a scheme involving the kidnapping of Dr. Douglas Dover by SDI Medical Research, a firm that was snatching homeless people across Toronto for its own superhuman experimentations.

At the SDI Medical Research Building, Skye and Finn ran into young Ava Lorenz, a teenager who possessed light-manipulation powers. Together, they shut down SDI’s experiments, becoming fast friends in the process.

—

**Act I – A Wing and a Prayer**

**_SafeHaven Homeless Shelter – January 26th, 2016_ **

Given the state of Finn’s back after his encounter with the superpowered Subject A-001 a few days, he was definitely not 100% ready to get up and walk around much. Yet, on this day, there was something that left him with no other choice but to lift himself out of bed.

“I think it’s time for breakfast, so I’ll make my way over to the stove an–” Finn’s joyous tone was unexpectedly cut short when he noticed that the couch where Skye was sleeping was empty.

Finn panicked as he turned his head back and forth, yelling Skye’s name repeatedly in the hopes of locating where she disappeared off to. He feared that the hostile forces that were targeting Skye for quite some time had somehow kidnapped her while he was asleep.

The one thing that gave Finn a sliver of hope that Skye wasn’t abducted was how the blankets and pillows on the couch weren’t messed up all around. Surely, that meant that Skye was safe. Now, it was simply a matter of finding her before it was too late.

Once Finn hobbled his way outside his apartment doors and into the cold exterior of SafeHaven, he was relieved to see Skye standing at the entrance, dressed in a minimal grey sweatshirt and blue trackpant, despite the weather being below-zero. She had simply been running laps around the neighbourhood since 5-am in the morning, still looking like she could run even more laps. Skye had no idea why she had the urge to wake up so early just for a morning jog, but she couldn’t resist the urge to get her mind back on track with a run.

“What’s wrong with you?” Skye stared at Finn, baffled by his look of shock, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Oh, thank God….” Finn was both overjoyed and a bit irritated. “You’re gonna be the death of me, Skye…”

“Well, I try my best…” Skye joked, much to Finn’s chagrin.

“If you’re done with your usual business,” Finn interrupted. “Weren’t we supposed to be visiting your new BFF Ava for breakfast at that Kensington cafe?”

“…who?” Skye answered, her voice filled with bewilderment. She looked towards Finn with a wide-eyed stare, having no idea of who he was talking about.

“Ah, shit…” Finn knew what he was about to deal with. Skye was suffering from another one of her memory lapses. There was no rhyme or reason to why they happened, but Finn realized that it was a recurring problem that Skye had to grapple with — one that he was more than happy to assist with whenever times like this cropped up.

“Whoever you are…” Skye’s voice took on a more panicked tone as she slowly backed away from SafeHaven’s entrance. “…please get the hell away from me.”

Finn could never get used to seeing Skye petrified with fear. It was a complete 180-degree turn from the bold, dauntless attitude that he was more familiar with. Still, he did his best to do what he could for his friend in times like these.

“Goddamnit…” Finn said in a frenzy as he ran back into the SafeHaven building and into his apartment. “Skye, wait here.”

Finn rummaged through the drawer beside his bed and pulled out a grey notebook with a crudely-drawn maple leaf on the cover. Finn ran off and headed back outside to meet with the apparently-amnesiac Skye, in the hopes of getting her to remember.

“If you’re planning on shooting me, please don’t…” Skye, assuming that Finn was going to pull out a gun on her, hollered out. “I may not know where the hell I am, but I do know how to defend myself.”

“No… Skye, you’ve got it all wrong…” Finn slowly approached his friend, revealing the grey notebook in his hands. He didn’t hesitate to open it to a page showing pertinent information from their recent visit to SDI Medical Research, as well as a picture he took on his cellphone of Skye sitting alongside Ava Lorenz at Johnny Sam’s Cafe, both with smiles on their faces.

Realizing what was up, Skye sat on the bench at the front entrance, with Finn soon joining her as the two looked through the maple leaf-adorned grey notebook. With every turn of the page, Skye’s interest piqued. She was fascinated about seeing herself doing all the things that she saw on the notebook, wondering how and when she was able to do these things.

“I’ve been keeping this to myself ever since you came along,”  Finn began to discuss the grey notebook that he had just shown to Skye, “It’s basically a journal of everything we’ve been through with the whole Singularity craziness. I thought it was useful for me, so that I won’t forget all this when you’re long gone. But now I realize… maybe it’s a lot more useful for you.”

“This is all… this is sweet of you,” Skye said sincerely while she looked over Finn’s notebook. “I’m beginning to understand why I mean so much to you just by looking at what you’ve done with this book. Either that, or you’ve got a secret crush on me.”

“For the record, Skye, I’m gay. Buuuuut….I’ll let that slide,” Finn prodded playfully, “More importantly, do you remember actually being in all these moments you see yourself in?”

“Yeah… I think I do…” Skye’s voice trailed off while she thought long and hard about seeing herself in Finn’s notebook. “Wait… who was that kid sitting with me in the one picture you showed me?”

“That’s Ava Lorenz… we were supposed to meet up with her today at Kensington Market.” Finn happily answered his friend’s question.

“Oh God…. now I remember!” Skye exclaimed, seemingly having her memories of recent events restored thanks to Finn and his notebook. “Um, I mean… what are we doing standing here? Let’s go!”

“Lead the way, then…” Finn grimaced in pain while trying to follow Skye to the bus stop. Being out and about like this was really not going to help heal his back pain, but he was just relieved that Skye was back to normal.

—

**_Toronto Police Headquarters – Chief Alexandra MacDonald’s Office_ **

Chief MacDonald stood over a desk set up in her office. It was cluttered with folders, pictures, and other related evidence that pertained to the case involving incidents at Psi MediLabs, Daily Harvest Food Bank, Yonge-Dundas Square, and SDI Medical Research. At surface, these incidents seemed completely unconnected, but Chief MacDonald and her officers were able to at least suss out a common thread: Skye. (Her appearance, at least. They didn’t have her name figured out just yet)

“I called you all here this morning because I think we’re coming real close in cracking this mystery superwoman case,” Chief MacDonald addressed the assemblage of officers that stood before her. “

“My team has been working tirelessly in finding the link between all these incidents you see chronicled on the desk,” SSgt. Derick Eddison of the Major Crimes Task Force commented. “We believe that the purple-haired woman has been using her superpowers to for her own personal gain. What this has to do with a food bank, a medical building, and a place where they make syringes is anyone’s guess, however.”

“What about that guy who got admitted to Toronto General Health Centre who was involved in the Psi explosion?” One officer asked. “He apparently kept mentioning somebody named ‘Skye’ when we asked him about the incident…”

“And what does some person named like a dog from my daughter’s favorite show have to do with the investigation?” Chief MacDonald asked impatiently.

“Call it a crazy theory,” Another officer postulated, “But I’m of the mind that this ‘Skye’ person the man at the hospital kept mentioning is the common thread we’ve been seeking out in this investigation.”

“Constable Wilson does have a point, Chief,” SSgt. Eddison took note of the theory that was just passed around the room, “Whoever this ‘Skye’ is has to be important enough to be a frequent point of topic with Mr. Ellerton.”

“I don’t care if our purple-haired suspect is named after Queen Elizabeth or whomever,” Chief MacDonald interrupted, “All that matters is that we bring her in and find out what her involvement is with all these incidents.”

SSgt. Eddison led his subordinates away from Chief MacDonald’s office, leaving the Chief of the Toronto Police to quietly look at the one photo of Skye that they had managed to find. Chief MacDonald didn’t care if Skye was guilty of any wrongdoing, she simply wanted to find out the truth directly from her… even if she had to get her officers to bring Skye into custody to do so.

—

**_Kensington Market – Just Outside Minh’s Food Market_ **

Thanks to Skye having yet another memory lapse earlier on, she and Finn were a good ten minutes late in arriving at Kensington Market to meet up with Ava Lorenz for a day out. They had arrived in front of the old-school facade of Minh’s Food Market, hoping to find their new friend waiting for them.

“Do you see Ava anywhere?” Finn asked. “She was supposed to meet us at this exact spot.”

“To be fair, we are kind of late…” Skye pointed out. “And I know it’s because of me. I don’t need a reminder.”

“Gotcha.” Finn nodded. Getting on Skye’s bad side was not on his to-do list for this day — or any other day, for that matter.

Before Skye and Finn could dwell for too long, Ava’s boisterously enthusiastic voice rang out from afar. They turned to their left to see Ava herself running in their direction, and with a big smile on her face.

“You guys came! You’re here!” Ava shouted as she leapt right into Skye to give her a big hug. Skye leaned back slightly, her face blushing (which naturally got Finn’s attention) at this show of affection. After a moment or so, she simply patted Ava on the back.

“Good to see you too, kid.” Skye responded to Ava being glad to see her. After the morning Skye had, seeing a friendly face other than Finn’s was just what she needed to help ease her mind somewhat.

“Where should I take you first? The Native Canadian Arts Centre? The old game store? Or do you guys want nachos from Sneaky Dee’s?” Ava spoke a mile a minute with unbridled excitement. She had been looking forward to this.

“Feel free to take us wherever you’d like,” Skye beamed with a faint hint of happiness. It was enough to make Finn smile, especially in light of what happened earlier. Seeing his friend so happy felt odd for Finn, but it was emotionally gratifying for him.

—

**_Somewhere Near Kensington Market…_ **

A sleek black car pulled up in a mostly-empty parking lot on Bellevue Avenue, soon joined by a larger armored car that parked beside it.

Samuel Brandt, the head of SDI’s Repossession Task Force, stepped out of the black car, joined two other men in matching suits. He had been placed in charge by his boss — a man only known to him as “The Chief” — to hunt down Skye, as she was a detriment to the company’s plans.

A group of men in white t-shirts emerged from the armored car, all of whom were carrying black duffel bags.

“You all understand the mission that’s been assigned to you?” Brandt spoke.

“Indeed, Mr. Brandt.” One of the white shirt men, a man with light brown hair, responded. “My people have their gear, and we’re ready to go.”

“But please, The Chief insists that you are not to kill the Subject or her friends under any circumstances.” Brandt reminded the white shirt men. “This is simply a mission to draw her out so that we can capture her easily.”

“Understood.” The brown-haired man approved of the plan.

—

**_Alfa Coffee – Brunch, Interrupted_ **

“Is ‘Skye’ your real name?” Ava asked. She was inquisitive and wanted to know more about her brand new friend.

“I dunno, but I just like to assume that it is,” Skye provided an answer to what she thought was the origins of her name. “Like you said, Ava, it’s a rather beautiful name and probably the only thing I’m ever sure about who I am.”

Finn sat back and enjoyed his breakfast sandwich, letting Skye and Ava get to know one another together. They had been talking for roughly half-an-hour, which mostly consisted of Ava telling Skye about how she grew up mostly feeling like the whole world was against her.

Skye knew the feeling was mutual on her end, but on an account of a past that was filled with disjointed memories — something that Ava was fortunately not plagued with. They did share common ground, however, with the whole “running away” and “growing up with mysterious superpowers” thing. So, that was something they surprisingly shared a laugh and baked pies over on.

As for the rest of the morning, it largely consisted of touring the sights and sounds of Kensington Market, with Ava as the overly-enthusiastic tour guide leading Skye and Finn around the neighbourhood.

“Did you ever know who your parents were?”

Skye ignored Ava’s present question. Not because out of any malicious intent, but rather due to spotting that something was off just outside of Alfa Coffee’s doors. A nondescript white box truck parked on the opposite side of the Kensington Avenue cafe, in front of a small convenience store.

As soon as the truck was parked, a group of men in matching blue attire — not unlike those worn by security guards — exited the cargo area of the box truck. These men were heavily armed with machine guns. Skye knew what was coming next.

“You seem spooked, Skye…” Finn took notice of his partner looking off outside the cafe. “You alright?”

Skye didn’t answer Finn’s concerns.

There was only one thing on her mind.

Only one thing to do.

“Behind me!” Skye exclaimed before the men in blue positioned their machine guns towards her, Finn, and Ava.

Machine-gun fire ripped through the glass and doors of Alfa Coffee, sending its patrons scurrying for cover. Skye shielded Finn and Ava from the gunfire by bringing them closer to her arms in order to embrace the both of them.

The bullets from the machine guns may have ripped through the back of Skye’s brown jacket, but they failed to do any substantial damage to her whatsoever.

Skye knew exactly what was going on. She was being targeted by the same people who had been hunting her down for quite some time now. And the very same group who had tried to turn Ava into a mindless zombie under the control of a bizarre superhuman alteration.

“Find cover! Now!” Skye shouted to Finn and Ava as the gunmen continued to fire away at the trio. People both inside the coffee bar and around the area were screaming in panic, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

Finn and Ava quickly ducked under a turned-over table to shield themselves from the gunmen, while Skye remained still, as her superhuman durability made it possible for her to survive the gunfire. Even as bullets deflected off of Skye harmlessly, the gunmen continued to fire their weapons, undeterred by their target’s invulnerability.

This seemed to just mildly annoy Skye more than anything.

“Ready for a light show, Finn?” Ava asked enthusiastically, despite being in a situation that put her and Finn in mortal danger.

“I thought you’d never ask…” Finn nodded.

Ava peeked out from under the table to fire bolts of pink light towards a couple of the gunmen, easily dazing them. Ava followed it up by finally taking down the two gunmen with more bursts of energy directed at them. Skye looked towards Ava and Finn and gave a brief, knowing nod of her approval for the assist.

“I think she’s really fond of you…” Finn gave Ava a pat on the back, acknowledging Skye’s quick nod towards her.

Skye flipped a round serving tray into her hands with her foot, then throwing it at three gunmen as if it were a frisbee, easily disarming them of their guns. Like lightning, Skye sped through the three gunmen standing outside Alfa Coffee, beating them down with minimal effort. She didn’t even have to use all of her strength to defeat the gunmen.

The first assassin was dealt with, courtesy of a well-timed headbutt. Skye took down the other assassin by throwing him through the Alfa Coffee window before knocking out the last gunman by ramming him into a parked car.

“Finn… you and Ava alright?” Skye walked back inside Alfa Coffee and looked towards the overturned table to check up on her allies hiding behind it.

“Other than being shaken up after being caught in yet another life-endangering situation,” Finn chimed in, “We’re fine.”

“Wait… there’s one last goon left…” Ava butted into the conversation to inform Skye and Finn of an assassin that was still there lurking outside Alfa Coffee.

That last assassin was dressed in a dark blue camouflage uniform, in contrast to the all-blue security outfits the other assassins wore. Rather than try to pick a fight with Skye and her friends, the assassin decided that discretion was the better part of valor, opting to ride a motorcycle that was left parked near a convertible to make his escape from Kensington Market.

“Stand back, guys…” Skye turned to Finn and Ava before making a run towards the escaping assassin. “I’ve got him.”

The assassin in blue camouflage sped away from the exterior of Alfa Coffee, the loud roaring of his ride catching the attention of several pedestrians walking along Kensington Avenue. With a quick burst of Olympian-like speed that would make Usain Bolt jealous, Skye managed to nearly catch up to the motorcycle-riding assassin on foot, who was making his getaway at a speed of 60mph. Skye was just that fast.

Sensing that he was about to get caught, the assassin made a quick turn right towards Fitzroy Terrace, hoping to shake Skye off his tail. But, that was to no avail, as Skye’s superhuman speed helped her get close enough to the assassin right at the intersection of Kensington and Fitzroy Terrace.

Just like that, Skye easily snatched the assassin off his motorcycle, sending him flying into a brick wall that lined the narrow alley. The assassin writhed in pain on the pavement soon after, completely unaware of Skye looming over him with some unfinished business of her own.

“Oh, I am not done with you…” Skye forcefully peeled the motorcycle-riding assassin off the pavement and slammed him against the brick wall.

“Who the hell are you and who sent you after me?”

“C-Colonel Francis Auerbach, head of security for SDI…” the assassin wheezed out, a tiny bit of smug superiority present in his voice. “I’ve been ordered by my superiors to eliminate you and your friends to ensure tha–”

Something inside Skye’s head snapped as she heard Colonel Auerbach explain himself. It was as if the week or so of being the target of a sinister conspiracy and years of mental anguish at the hands of an ever-faulty memory had finally pushed Skye over the edge.

Skye’s mind was overcome with images of unceasing catastrophes, before a familiar symbol took over: that damned arrowhead sigil that seemed to loom over her perpetually. Once her thoughts cleared up, there only seemed to be one thing on her mind above all else… The mission.

And there was a target that stood in the way of that mission.

Skye violently slammed Col. Auerbach down to the pavement again, then beginning to mercilessly pummel him with fists raining down on his face. Blood began to splatter all around with each blow to the Colonel’s head, some even splashing right onto Skye’s face. Her facial expression remained frighteningly stoic.

Finn and Ava had finally been able to catch up with Skye, getting a glimpse of their friend’s uncharacteristic show of aggression. While Finn looked on in horror, Ava looked like she was about to burst into tears, terrified by this disturbingly sadistic Skye that she was seeing before her very eyes. She covered her eyes with her hands to spare herself from the violence.

This was a side of Skye that Finn and Ava never even thought was possible. It was almost as a different person was standing before them altogether. Finn, in particular, couldn’t wrap his head around Skye’s current behavior. It went against everything he believed about her.

“Skye! Stop! He’s been knocked out!” Finn held his back while trying to make his way to where Skye was in a bid to get her to stop her brutality. “You’ve done enough! Please, just calm down.”

His pleas went unanswered as Skye finished her assault with a single punch to the Colonel’s head. She looked on at the unconscious body of her defeated and defenseless foe with an unusually icy, vacant look in her eyes.

“Thank god…” Finn stopped in his spot, assuming that Skye was done with her beatdown of Col. Auerbach.

Skye tilted her head towards Finn, then standing up in a bizarrely rigid manner. She began walking in Finn’s direction, the blank expression still present on her face. Even though the proof was right in front of his face that Skye was not okay, Finn still approached her. Maybe she’d listen to reason if it came from someone she trusted.

“I don’t think Skye’s back to normal, Finn…” Ava peeked her eyes from hands long enough to warn her older friend of danger.

“Don’t worry, Ava. I’ve got this. Skye’s my friend. She won’t hur—” Finn’s attempts at comforting his friend were cut short when Skye grabbed him by his collar and pushed him hard into the brick wall he was standing in front of.

Finn could barely even utter one word as Skye kept her grip around his sweater collar in a tight vise.

His inner thoughts were a mess at the moment. He couldn’t believe that someone he trusted with his life was really trying to kill him.

It was like Skye didn’t recognize him at all. Not even his screams of anguish were enough to help Skye get back to her senses.

It became as clear as day to Finn that something was not right with Skye. He spent enough time with her through their search for answers to know that whatever it was that caused Skye to snap was most certainly connected to the Singularity conspiracy. Finn knew that Skye was not herself at the moment, he just couldn’t put his finger on what caused her to go berserk.

Skye took a handgun from the holster of the unconscious Col. Auerbach. She then aimed it firmly at Finn’s head as she again continued her one-armed chokehold on him with her other hand. Finn could only look on, emotionally torn apart by the prospect of his friend killing him.

“This isn’t you, Skye.” Finn, on the verge of breaking down, tried to appeal to whatever shred of humanity Skye had left in her. “Don’t do this… don’t kill me… don’t kill me… I’m your… frie… friend…”

Finn’s attempts to get through to Skye didn’t have the desired effect he wanted. Skye would not listen to his increasingly fearful pleas to stop.

Skye’s green eyes were devoid of the compassion and warmth that Finn was familiar with. It was as if some inner darkness lurking inside her had taken over.

Skye was no longer the young woman who had valiantly protected Finn from homophobic thugs when they first met. In her place was a remorseless killer — one that was focused on finishing the mission… even if it involved murdering a friend.

Once that dawned upon Finn, he began to fear that this was going to be it for him. Death at the hands of his own friend.

Before she could fire her gun, Skye abruptly trembled to her knees, holding her head in agony with one hand as a burst of pink light overwhelmed her. The surge of light was enough to force her to let go of Finn, who promptly slid against the brick wall and onto the ground. Another blast of light finally felled Skye for the time being.

“I’m sorry…” Ava stood over Skye with a regretful look on her face, her hands pulsing with energy. She didn’t want to hurt someone she looked up to as a big sister of sorts in any way, but Ava couldn’t stand to see the possibility of Skye killing Finn – even if she was not in control of her own actions.

Before she could even move to see if both Finn or Skye were alright, Ava fell to the ground, once again losing consciousness after using her light powers to their absolute limits. Finn slowly got up as he soon made her way over to where Ava collapsed. He held the young teen in his arms.

Skye had a bit of a struggle getting back up, but it appeared that Ava’s timely intervention literally knocked some sense into her. Her head was still ringing and body aching from being bathed in pink energy, but Skye rose to her feet, apparently not remembering the events of the past few minutes.

It seemed that Skye was back to her usual self. That look of emptiness she had before was gone, her normal demeanor was back. It was like someone hit the reset button for her brain – albeit with more force.

“Unhhh….. what happened?” Skye mumbled somewhat incoherently. She was still trying to recover from being engulfed by Ava’s light, on top of trying to come to grips with her mind forcing her into a darker state.

“Oh, nothing, just you almost trying to kill me because your mind got scrambled or whatever…” Finn retorted, a small hint of rudeness evident in his tone. He clearly was none too pleased about Skye almost killing him.

“Okay… what?” Skye blinked in minor confusion at what Finn was saying. It was to the point that she didn’t even seem so angry about the way he mentioned it.

—

**_Johnny Sam’s Cafe – An Hour Later…_ **

The mood was considerably more somber than the last time Skye, Finn, and Ava found themselves at Johnny Sam’s, partially due to what had happened an hour earlier.

Ava was still traumatized from seeing Skye’s uncontrolled rage earlier, but she did her best to keep a brave face about it. That was because she believed that Skye was still the kind-hearted person who risked it all to help save her from SDI Medical Research’s Project Unity experiments, and that whatever caused her to flip out was just a freak accident.

Finn, meanwhile, was hurting all over. Not just due to his back injuries being aggravated even further due to being slammed against a brick wall not too long ago, but also internally due to almost being the victim of whatever it was that caused Skye to go berserk.

As for Skye herself, she was barely holding it together. She overheard Finn and Ava discussing her frenzied brutality, not having even the slightest idea about what they were alluding to. They soon told Skye about what she did to Col. Auerbach and how she almost killed Finn under some implausible state of mind control. That only made Skye feel even more uneasy about herself.

“…It was like you weren’t in control of yourself,” Ava remarked, still in shock about what she saw earlier. Sure, being the target of a group of assassins was crazy enough, but that definitely paled in comparison to what happened after that incident. “It was like you were some sort of Bizarro Skye or somethin’.”

“Tell me about it…” Finn grimaced in pain, feeling the effects of Skye throwing him into a brick wall. “Getting nearly shot in the head by someone you call a friend is not what I’d call a pleasant experience.”

“Look, I’m really sorry, Finn…” Skye quickly apologized for her actions, “I honestly didn’t know what came over me there. It was just… there was something about that motorcycle guy that made me flip out. It was like I knew who he was somehow.”

Even after years of being forced to live with erratic memories of her past and constant mental anguish, Skye had never experienced whatever it was that triggered her berserker rampage at the alleyway earlier. The more Skye thought about what she nearly did to Finn, the more it unsettled her. The idea that she was capable of killing someone in cold blood never came across her mind in her many years of being constantly on the run, so it just served to rattle her even further.

“I’m really starting to think that there’s more to all this than we thought,” Finn deduced almost immediately. “Those assassins weren’t really going for killing shots when they were shooting at us. Even that assassin you chased down tried to turn into a dead end when you ran after him. They must’ve known that something would cause you to go nuts.”

“Those guys weren’t trying to even hit us with their guns…” Ava chimed in.

That very idea seemed to interest Finn even further. If these assassins weren’t actively trying to kill them, then why the public spectacle?

“Hey, you remember when we first encountered Brandt and his hired guns at the PATH last week?” Finn asked. “Like how they had guns with ammunition that managed to harm you?”

“Definitely. Can’t ever forget a face as smug as his,” Skye answered back. She pulled out the blue-hued bullet that she had recovered from that first encounter from her green knapsack.

“Looks like those assassins were in the business of drawing you out rather than killing you,” Finn concluded as he compared shell casings with the glowing bullet Skye got from her backpack.

“Well, whatever it was that made me lose control…” Skye resounded her renewed resolve, “I intend on finding it out once and for all. So that nobody gets hurt because of me.”

Skye had taught herself over the years to essentially weather the storm when it came to traumatic incidents. She sometimes questioned whether or not it helped her in the long run, but this strategy made it easier for Skye to maintain a singular focus when it came to keeping herself in check.

“Cool! Can I come along with you guys, too?” Ava’s excitement heightened once more at the possible prospect of tagging along with Skye and Finn for another adventure.

“Ava, I really appreciate you stopping me before I could seriously hurt Finn,” Skye began to vocalize, “But, I think this is something that someone your age shouldn’t be getting regularly involved with… even if you’ve got superpowers.”

Ava felt her heart sink in a mere instant. She only wanted to help out her new friends in their hunt for answers. She knew her energy powers would be a great help in fighting whatever threat was in their way. Ava hoped that Skye would understand that fact.

Skye, to her credit, had a good reason for asking Ava to stay away for the time being. She desired to protect Ava from further danger, so that she could spare her from possibly being killed as a result of one careless move on her part.

“We’re sorry, Ava, it’s just that….” Finn joined the conversation before trailing off as something had caught his attention. He saw the sight of Toronto Police huddled together outside Kinza Falafel. “…..shit.”

“What is it?” Skye queried.

“Uh… remember that time you pretended to be some Health Canada inspector?” Finn replied. “Seems like the cops finally caught on and are looking for Ramona Stevens… whoever they think she is.”

“Terrific.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Act II – A Rock and a Hard Place**

As if suffering another memory lapse, being ambushed by SDI’s armed goons, and nearly killing Finn while under some sort of bizarre form of mind control wasn’t enough, Skye had yet another problem to contend with on this fine day: The Toronto Police.

The cops had almost all of Baldwin Street closed off, with portions of Kensington Avenue also affected by the closures. They were there partially due to the whole Ramona Stevens incident, but also to investigate reports of machine-gun wielding assailants shooting up a cafe on Kensington Avenue, which was followed by an on-foot chase of one of the assailants on the motorcycle.

“What’s the plan here?” Skye directed her attention to Finn, who was assessing the scene of Toronto Police cordoning Baldwin Street off to conduct their investigation. It appeared that the entire compliment of officers and cars had all converged at Kensington Market.

“If I have to be honest,” Finn responded while wincing in pain from being thrown into a brick wall earlier, “I’m at a loss here. I don’t think this is a situation we can just distract the cops to avoid suspicion. I think they’ve finally caught on to what we’ve been doi—”

“Maybe I can help you guys out!” Ava pitched in with an idea to help Skye and Finn out. She hadn’t been around when they were trying to outfox Toronto Police previously to further their investigation of the Singularity conspiracy, so perhaps Ava could be of use for them.

“Alright, kid, let’s hear your idea…” Skye conceded to let Ava discuss her plan to help avoid police suspicion.

Ava looked to Mr. Perreault, the proprietor of Johnny Sam’s Cafe and her surrogate father of sorts, who had closed up the restaurant early due to the increased police presence.

“You look tense, Ava, what’s cookin’?” Mr. Perrault asked.

“My two new friends are in a bit of a pickle,” Ava explained Skye and Finn’s situation to Mr. Perrault, “They kinda need some help escaping the cops outside…”

“They’re criminals?” Mr. Perreault gasped.

“No, no. Skye and her friend Finn are the good guys,” Ava clarified almost right away. “They’re just tryin’ to solve some crazy, evil conspiracy…”

“I hate to admit it, but you’re talking crazy, Ava…” Mr. Perreault brushed off Ava’s claims. “There’s no ‘crazy, evil conspiracy’ and your two friends are clearly breaking the law.”

“You remember when I disappeared for a few days, right?” Ava interjected, wanting desperately to help her new friends however she could, “Both Skye an’ Finn saved me from the scientists that were tryin’ to experiment on me and all the other homeless people they captured. I owe ‘em for that.”

“Oh, I see.” Mr. Perreault simply shrugged, taking Ava’s word for it in regards to whether he could trust Skye and Finn. “Wait here, I think I’ve got something that might help your new friends.”

—

“Come on, Skye, admit it…” Finn lightfully teased his pal’s disguise given to her by Mr. Perreault and Ava, “I’d say that ensemble really brings out your true beauty.”

“Not now, Finwick.” Skye was less than enthused with what she had to wear. “It’s not like you look any better, either.”

The disguise that Skye had on? A cheap-looking yellow-and-black hockey sweater that had no logo or number on it, with a grey wool jacket worn over it. She wore a light red toque with “CANADA” in white written on it to cover up her obvious-as-day purple hair. Fake glasses completed the disguise.

Finn was dressed in a light green sweater with the hood pulled up to conceal his identity, along with a black winter coat that he wore over the aforementioned sweater.

These disguises were what Mr. Perreault had in mind for both Skye and Finn from the lost and found bin of his restaurant. He barely knew who they were, but he knew that if Ava trusted her life with them, then they must’ve been good people.

“You two seem like good sports,” Mr. Perreault marveled at the attires Skye and Finn were wearing at the moment. “Good luck to you on your conspiracy stuff.”

“We’re glad that you were able to help, sir,” Skye saluted Mr. Perreault’s efforts, even if she didn’t exactly like what she was wearing. He meant well and had their best intentions in his mind. That was something Skye was able to respect.

The next phase of the plan was for Ava to lead the two through the back door of Johnny Sam’s that led to the parking lot area above so that they could escape Kensington Market undetected by hitching a ride on one of the cars parked — specifically, a blue pickup truck whose bed was largely empty, with a grey tarp laid on it.

“Are you guys gonna be okay without me?” Ava still desired to go with Skye and Finn to wherever was the next destination for their adventure, “I can help even more… I know I can. I’m strong enough.”

“I don’t doubt that you’re strong. You’ve proven it to me big time,” Skye put her hand on Ava’s shoulder and looked her right in the eye, “But you need to be somewhere far away from this nightmare that keeps following me, Ava. These people hunting me down won’t stop until they have me in chains or in a bodybag and as long as you’re around me, you’re not safe. I’m sorry. I hope you can understand.”

Skye wasn’t trying to be a jerk about the situation. She just hoped Ava would listen to reason for once and see that she was simply doing all this to protect her from SDI’s machinations.

“I understand…” Ava finally relented on her desires of coming along with Skye and Finn. She only wanted to help, after all. But, ultimately, Ava knew that her safety was of greater importance.

“Come on, we need to get going.” Finn reminded his partner of what the current plan was.

“In a sec,” Skye turned her head to Finn’s direction. “I just have something special for Ava.”

Skye pulled out the grey maple leaf notebook from her bag, taking the photo of her and Ava from the page it belonged to. She gave the photo to Ava, who naturally let the tears flow even harder thanks to the gift given to her. It was nothing short of bittersweet for Ava.

“I really think you should have this,” Skye again spoke from the bottom of her heart to Ava. “Consider it a reminder of how you’ve literally been a light in my life for the short time we’ve spent together.”

“Thank you…” Ava’s voice quivered, overwhelmed with both sadness and heartfelt appreciation for Skye’s gift. “I got you somethin’, too…”

Ava reached into her pocket and pulled out a small green box, opening it to reveal a golden pendant with a design of a rabbit grabbing a carrot with its mouth.

“Oh… it’s lovely, Ava.” Skye looked down at the rabbit pendant, adjusting it before wearing it around her neck.

“It looks good on you…” Finn flashed a grin. He approved of Skye’s new necklace.

“I got that the same day I got that pet rabbit that had your name,” Ava recounted the story behind her gift. “You remember my rabbit, right? The one named Skye just like you… Finn told me about your memory problems and maybe this can help you remember th’next time your brain’s on the fritz. It’s always symbolized the only friend that I seemed to have. Back then, it was my rabbit… but now, it’s you.”

Skye recalled Ava mentioning her former pet rabbit that shared her name back when she and Finn first encountered their young friend at SDI Medical Research a few days ago. She couldn’t help but smile at the notion that Ava held her in the same regard as that beloved pet of hers.

“J-ju… just promise me you ‘n Finn will come visit again, okay?” Ava finally let herself be overcome with emotion, crying her heart out into Skye’s shoulders.

“Okay… I promise.” Skye cradled her young friend in a warm embrace, seemingly for one last time. She didn’t know if she’d ever be back to fulfill that promise to Ava, but Skye knew she’d have to try her best to bring down the Singularity conspiracy once and for all. Not just so she could end its damaging reach, but to get that one chance to see Ava again.

Skye patted Ava on the head before joining Finn in riding on the back of a pickup truck that was about to exit the parking lot. For one last time, she looked at her young friend, who meekly waved goodbye to her and Finn.

“Be safe, guys…” Ava quietly said to herself as she watched the cobalt blue pickup truck with Skye and Finn riding on the back of it leave the parking garage. Mr. Perreault appeared from the back to not only comfort Ava, but more importantly, to keep her safe.

—

**_Fitzroy Terrace – The Scene of a “Crime”_ **

While his fellow police officers practically had Kensington Market under lockdown, SSgt. Eddison was more focused on what happened at the narrow alleyway of Fitzroy Terrace, where Skye brutally beat up Col. Auerbach.

The sight of a dumpster with a notable human-shaped dent on its side, as well as blood stains lining the pavement and brick walls particularly had SSgt. Eddison’s attention. He had overheard random people talking about a woman running after someone who was trying to flee the area on a motorcycle, and how this woman literally threw the escaping biker into an alley. The black-haired head of the Major Crimes Task Force wanted to see if those stories were true.

It seems that those stories were about to be corroborated when SSgt. Eddison spotted an unconscious body that was lying behind the dumpster. Eddison immediately knelt over the body to check to see if there was still a pulse.

“Suh…su–stop… stop…” Auerbach whimpered. He was still feeling the very painful effects of Skye’s bloodthirsty assault earlier.

“Sir, are you alright?” SSgt. Eddison asked.

“Nuh….nooooo……” Auerbach could barely string together a coherent sentence. It was like he was in another time zone.

“Please stay put, sir. I’ll get a medic.” Eddison told Auerbach while reaching for his phone. He dialed Chief MacDonald’s number.

“Uh, Chief, I think we might have somebody that can help us with the here with me…”

—

**_The Back of a Pickup Truck – Escape Plans_ **

It wasn’t exactly the best place to be thinking long and hard about where life had taken her at this point, but Skye was just happy to have a bit of downtime to do so… even if it was while riding on the back of a complete stranger’s pickup truck.

Finn was fast asleep, finally getting some time for rest after all that happened to him today. Skye, meanwhile, was simply immersing herself in her inner thoughts, hoping to let herself be at peace for the moment. She wasn’t much of a “zen” kind of person, but Skye understood the simple value of losing herself in her own mind every so often. It was probably the only time she could ever find respite from the unceasing chaos that tormented her.

Every time Skye revisited the events at the Kensington Market alley earlier, she just wanted to throw up. She just couldn’t believe that someone like her was capable of taking an innocent life for seemingly no reason. Skye saw herself as being too strong-willed to let herself be a cold-blooded killer.

At the same time, thinking about all this simply just emboldened Skye’s determination to expose SDI’s conspiracy even more. If their schemes did have even the smallest connection to her memory lapses, inexplicable loss of control, and even her superpowers, she wanted to know so that she could prevent anyone else from getting hurt.

In the meantime, Skye continued to look over the grey maple leaf notebook to read up on the notes and pictures that Finn had compiled about her and this whole investigation that he had gotten himself involved with. She was still astonished about learning how much she meant to Finn, which made her feel even more awful about almost murdering him earlier. Skye turned her attention to the still-asleep Finn, a minute smile appearing on her face as she saw how tranquil he looked while asleep.

Seeing Finn at peace gave Skye a lot more things to think about. She began to wonder whether or not she was a positive presence in his life. Skye knew that Finn would probably answer that question with a resounding “yes”, but she wasn’t so sure if she shared his sentiment — especially in the wake of what happened earlier.

The cobalt blue pickup truck had been travelling for upwards to a half-an-hour around Toronto, finally seemingly making a stop at a mostly-empty parking lot outside an apartment along St. George Street. Skye quickly tried to wake Finn up so that they could walk.

“Wh-w…who? Oh…” Finn yawned as he was woken up by Skye.

“I dunno where we are, but I think we should get a move on…” Skye lifted Finn to help him off his feet, then leading him into the bushes just before the driver could spot them.

A few minutes later, they made it to the sidewalk along St. George, nobody barely suspecting a thing. Skye was still deep in her thoughts, something that caught Finn’s attention.

“I’m the one whose back is all messed up beyond hell,” Finn lamented, “Yet you seem to be hurting more than I am. What’s wrong?”

“I almost killed you…” Skye said in a somber tone as she walked beside Finn. She felt like she was going to break down in tears. “I know I wasn’t in control of myself, but I just can’t stop thinking about it.”

Skye tried her best to metaphorically sweep her meltdown under the rug, but it was something that simply could not be ignored. She knew that whatever caused her to lose her mind earlier was most certainly connected to SDI, and that it was something that had a high chance of happening again. The prospect of possibly going berserk once again left Skye hurting emotionally.

“I know and understand why that’s still haunting you, Skye,” Finn tried his best to reassure his friend, “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think you should be at fault at that. Like you said, you weren’t in control of your actions.”

“But what if I did kill you?” Skye remained pensive. “What if I pulled the trigger back at the alley?”

“I know for a fact that you’re stronger than this self-pitying, Skye,” Finn attempted his own take on motivation. “I also think that you’re stronger than whatever the hell it was that caused you to go psycho on me. That’s because you’re one of the most resilient people I’ve ever met. I believe that.”

“I do, too.” Skye remained introspective about herself. “But, y’know how it is when it feels like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders. It’s never pleasant at all… that feeling of everything coming crashing down on you. It’s something that not even superpowers can help with.”

“In the past, you might’ve just been on your own with nobody to turn to,” Finn reassured. “Now, you won’t have to shoulder the weight alone. No matter what, I’ll be here to help.”

“I appreciate the sentiment,” Skye replied. “But, I’m essentially a ticking time bomb now. The next time I go off, you might not survive. It’s partially why I asked Ava to stay behind.”

Finn might’ve been hurting like hell physically himself, but he felt Skye’s emotional pains. He couldn’t help but sympathize with how Skye was suffering. And he was prepared to do something about it.

“That’s why we’re gonna find answers,” Finn maintained his support for Skye’s personal mission. “And I know just the place where we’ll get ‘em…”

\---

**_Toronto Police Headquarters – Mid-Afternoon_ **

Chief MacDonald had kept a close eye on her people’s lockdown of Kensington Market, hoping to find anyone or anything connected to a late morning shooting that somehow left no civilian injured.

A gentleman who looked to be roughly around 70 years of age, but incredibly fit for his age, suddenly entered Chief MacDonald’s office, surrounded by two men in matching black suits and sunglasses.

This man was Gerald Selfridge, the founder and CEO of SDI Genomics. Leaving the confines of his company’s head office located in Mississauga was something of an oddity for Mr. Selfridge, but it was clear that he was at Toronto Police headquarters with a purpose.

“This person you have been looking for…” Selfridge adjusted his suit tie. “I demand that you place a warrant for him right away.”

“And you’re suggesting that we put out an arrest warrant for this person?” Chief MacDonald questioned.

“The evidence you have speaks for yourself, Chief MacDonald,” Mr. Selfridge spoke. “This woman has been illegally trespassing on my property, destroying valuable life-saving research without remorse.”

“Look, Mr. Selfridge,” Chief MacDonald interrupted. “I know you feel strongly about how Skye is guilty, but we have nothing but a couple of surveillance images that don’t exactly corroborate your claims. While it might be true that this Skye character ransacked your property, we can’t do anything unless we have substantial proo–”

“Chief! Chief!” SSgt. Eddison opened up a video call from his phone. He was at St. Michael’s Hospital, where he had taken Francis Auerbach to tend to his injuries.

“Yes, Derick?” Chief MacDonald asked. “You called a while back already. Anything new with your man?”

Eddison talked. “Our guy here, while he’s been badly messed up, he’s claiming that a woman with purple hair beat him into unconsciousness today at that alley where I found him…”

“Now do you understand, Chief MacDonald?” Mr. Selfridge entered the conversation once more. “Mr. Auerbach is head of security and external operations with a loving wife and three children. Your suspect nearly robbed that family of a husband and father with her brutality.”

“You may be right, Mr. Selfridge,” Chief MacDonald answered back, “But there’s still part of me that thinks that you’re simply out of your mind.”

Chief MacDonald looked to the video image of Eddison and issued a directive.

“Tell the Warrant Office to get the word out to the media, Derick. This is now a criminal situation. Whoever this ‘Skye’ is, she’s now to be arrested and brought in for questioning.”

Mr. Selfridge simply watched with a look of content.

“If I may, Chief MacDonald… I’d like to make a few additions to your starting lineup.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Act III – Absolutes and Abstracts**

**_Robarts Library at the University of Toronto – Late Afternoon_ **

Finn’s idea of helping Skye get to the bottom of SDI and its seemingly shady doings was to bring her to the University of Toronto’s Robarts Library. The building’s largely-triangular architecture exhibited the library’s futuristic design, serving as a hub of research for U of T students and others who had the time to visit. Its design seemed to greatly fascinate Skye when she got her first look at it before entering the library itself.

Skye and Finn settled themselves in front of a computer, with the latter using some pocket money given to him by his friend Leo Stein a while back to pay for temporary use.

“Y’really think SDI’s illegal activity will just be there for us to search easily on the Internet?” Skye voiced her concerns about Finn’s method of research.

“It obviously all won’t be out in the open,” Finn observed in response to Skye’s concerns, “But I suspect that we’ll get somewhere substantial through some careful digging. I don’t think these guys are the walking definition of ‘subtle’, if what they’ve done recently is any indication.”

“You’re prolly right,” Skye ultimately agreed with Finn’s observation.

If openly kidnapping homeless people to conduct genetic experiments on them and sending assassins to a crowded neighbourhood weren’t beneath SDI, then they definitely seemed like the kind of people with plenty of secrets to hide.

“In that case, we probably should start by looking up that Keisler guy from the Medical Research building,” Finn suggested as he logged on to the SDI website he perused in the past.

Professor. Roland Keisler was the man who had been conducting top-secret experiments on the homeless, dubbed “Project: Unity”. His plan was to give them superpowers to “enrichen” their lives by bringing them under the control of a singular being, the so-called Patient A-001. Skye and Finn were close to being converted into mindless soldiers themselves, had it not been for Ava rescuing the two of them from Keisler’s plans.

Skye sat back and let Finn do his research, choosing to just pay attention to him without saying much. Her mind was still largely dwelling upon what she did earlier today, so Skye just hoped Finn would find answers to both her plight and SDI’s conspiracy with his methods of research.

On the computer screen, a directory of SDI personnel appeared. Skye and Finn recognized some of the people pictured on the page. Skye particularly paid attention to the listing for Francis Auerbach, who was noted as “Executive Director, Security & External Operations”. Most peculiar was that Auerbach wasn’t listed as a Colonel, like he claimed to be when Skye confronted him.

Her memories of encountering Auerbach were still spotty, but Skye recognized his face on the SDI website immediately.

“Isn’t that guy the one you ran down back at Kensington Market?” Finn made sure to dance around words when questioning Skye about Francis Auerbach. He didn’t want to end up saying the wrong thing to trigger yet another negative reaction from her.

Skye remained silent. She knew damn well that Finn was correct in identifying Auerbach, but she simply kept herself in check. Her eyes soon noticed the picture of one Samuel Brandt, the man who had been hunting her down for what seemed like an eternity.

“Let’s see what the story is behind our good friend Mr. Brandt…” Finn clicked on Brandt’s image, which caused an entire biography to pop up.

According to the biography on the SDI website, Brandt had apparently served with the Canadian Force’s Joint Task Force 2 special operations unit before being brought on by SDI, seemingly as just a “troubleshooter”, and not the relentless head of the Repossession Task Force that kept trying to track Skye down.

Finn then highlighted his cursor on the image of Roland Keisler — who was labeled “Department of Life Sciences — Head of Genetics ”.

“Keisler’s job description does seem to fit with what he was trying to do at SDI’s medical research outfit,” Finn pointed out.

“But what would his whole Unity deal have anything to do with me and my powers?”

“If I remember correctly,” Finn began to talk, “the CBC did some sort of investigative report a few years back on illegal superhuman trafficking and experimentations happening in Canada.”

“And…?” Skye was puzzled.

“Whatever that report found might have answers to why you’re being hunted down, especially due to your superpowers.” Finn clarified.

“Well, it’s worth a shot.” Skye again deferred to Finn and his research methods.

Finn went to the CBC News webpage and searched through their archives for the illegal superhuman experiment story he brought up. A video screen with the title, “the fifth estate Investigation: Homegrown Powers” appeared as soon as Finn clicked the link.

–

_There is a particularly dark secret hiding in our country. One that is potentially dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands… but could it have already fallen into these wrong hands? Tonight, “the fifth estate” investigates the Homegrown Powers that lie within Canada. Are there truly superhumans living in our borders? And who are the people responsible for their empowerment?_

The CBC News reporter stood beside a screen showcasing various scenes of suspected superhumans and genetics labs, purportedly the ones identified in this special report. She discussed how the growing reports of people across Canada

_We recently sent a reporter to SDI Genomics, a company that reportedly has been front and centre of alleged superhuman experimentations. In 2008, the Canadian government found supposed evidence that the company was dealing in illegally trafficking superpowered people under its watch._

The report shifted to the late 1980s, where SDI was pioneering a breakthrough in a cure for AIDS.

_It hasn’t been all under-the-table deals for SDI. In 1989, the company announced their plans for a plan to cure the AIDS virus. The plan, dubbed “Project Singularity”, involved the creation of artificially-bred human beings free of disease, with the hopes of finding a vaccine for AIDS derived from their blood. Unfortunately, Project Singularity was abruptly shut down in 1993, purportedly due to a failure of actually breeding these artificial humans._

_However, unconfirmed rumors debunk these claims from SDI heads, instead painting a negative image on why Singularity ended the way it did. Remember, while these rumors may be accurate, CBC News cannot vouch for their accuracy, so do take them with a grain of salt._

B-roll footage of folders and dossiers appeared on-screen, with the CBC News reporter beginning to discuss the rumors behind Project Singularity’s end.

_According to one insider who wished to remain anonymous, SDI’s Singularity project ended due to supposed plans of militarizing the program in order to create an army of super-soldiers with unique superhuman abilities, with the intent of selling them to the Canadian government for use in military operations overseas._

_Going back to our field report, while it did not lead to substantial evidence against SDI’s dealings, we were astonished to find that Professor Roland Keisler, a noted geneticist who was disgraced a few years ago for being exposed in a scandal involving illegal experiments on homeless people in St. John’s, Newfoundland thanks to an investigation led by Douglas Dover of Health Canada…_

–

“I think this whole thing is starting to somewhat make sense…” Finn had the pieces of the puzzle in his view. And he was starting to put it all together.

“Finn, I might not remember most of my past,” Skye answered. “But I’m pretty sure I was born somewhere and not created in some test tube like some crazy science experiment.”

“I never suggested that, Skye.” Finn pointed out. “But all this Singularity junk might explain why Brandt keeps trying to chase you. It’s possible that they’re intent on recreating the project somehow, by using you to do so. It might also explain why that Keisler guy was so intent with adding you to his army of super-zombies.”

“I guess having superpowers might make such things an easy task…” Skye shrugged.

Finn simply nodded in agreement. His attention soon turned to one of the newspaper clippings that was included as supplementary material for the CBC News story.

The newspaper clipping was from the Gravenhurst Banner, dated August 30th, 2014. In big, bold letters were the words “SUPER FIGHT STOPS ROBBERY; CAUSES $500,000 IN DAMAGES”. Below the dramatic headline was an image of a very familiar-looking woman standing over the bodies of two people, building debris strewn all around her. Finn knew who it was right away, even though the woman from the image had shoulder-length red hair.

“Is… is that you, Skye?” Finn easily put two-and-two together on the identity of the woman from the headline.

“I think…” Skye was perplexed, but she knew deep down that it was indeed her that had stopped some sort of robbery in Gravenhurst on August 30th, 2014. It was just that Skye had no idea what the hell she was doing there in the first place.

Finn typed “mystery superpower incidents” on the news search box, and more headlines popped up on the screen. The headlines were from different cities and towns across Ontario, all of which involved a young woman aged 18-20 in incidents that were a wide spectrum of unbelievability.

One headline from The Laval Journal talked about how a hooded woman bravely rescued a family from a fire that had engulfed their house. The report noted how this woman abruptly left the scene after her rescue.

Another headline reported on a daring rescue of a truck driver just as his truck was about to plummet over Nipigon Bridge during a multi-car accident. Like with the bulletin from Laval, the newspaper clipping mentioned how the woman seen rescuing the truck driver had been wearing a hoodie to conceal herself.

That pretty much clued Finn in on Skye’s involvement in the two incidents. Although Skye really didn’t want to talk about the incidents, nothing could keep Finn’s interests down for the count.

“Well, you seem like you’ve been busy before arriving here…” Finn discussed his friend’s earlier adventures.

“Those don’t ring a bell, sorry, Finn…” No matter how hard Skye wanted to believe her presence in Nipigon and Laval, among other places, she just couldn’t remember how she even ended up in those places.

“But, these are incredible!” Finn exclaimed. “You said when you first ran into me and Leo that you weren’t into the whole superhero thing, seems like these news headlines prove otherwise.”

“They’re also kinda irrelevant to looking up on SDI intel, might I remind you…” Skye wanted to get back to the task at hand.

Before Finn could answer, his phone vibrated, alerting him of a text message he just got at the moment. He whipped out his phone and saw that Stephen O’Day had sent him another message:

“Team’s gon be in town vs B’hamton. Got time for a date after the game?”

O’Day’s Toronto Marlies had the off-day after a grueling two-game series versus the Utica Comets at the Ricoh Coliseum (two games where he scored the game-winning goals). Finn regretted not being well enough to see his boyfriend in action due to his nagging injuries. Hoping to be just about healed by January 30th (the Marlies’ next home game), Finn sent a simple reply of “ok” to O’Day.

“Finn, if you’re done talking with your boyfriend, let’s see what else we’ve got on SDI’s ops…” Skye gently reminded her friend of why they were at the library.

Finn tried to return to the research but was greeted with a “THIS COMPUTER WILL SHUT DOWN” message. A library attendant made their way to the table where Finn and Skye were sitting.

“Sir, miss…” The attendant kindly reminded. “We just received word of an arrest warrant out with a suspected criminal loose in this area. We’ve taken action and decided to lock down this library until the police arrive. Please leave this modu–”

A sudden explosion cut the attendant off, as Skye pushed Finn aside to protect him from further explosions. That fireball knocked over several desks and damaged thousands and thousands of dollars worth of technology.

Skye lifted her head out from the table that got knocked over by whatever caused that explosion to see the cause of it. She saw a white armored car with Toronto Police decal, along with an unmarked black mini-tank parked beside it. A group of officers — all of whom were dressed in grey tactical gear — emerged from the Toronto Police armored car, with SSgt. Eddison leading them.

These men and women were a part of the Toronto Police Services’ Emergency Task Force, and they had been assigned to bring Skye in for questioning by any means necessary.

The ETF officers were soon joined by troops dressed in black armor, who exited from the mini-tank, as a familiar face led this unit. A face that Skye knew all too well.

Samuel Brandt of SDI’s Repossession Task Force.

 _“Dammit…”_ Skye muttered to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Act IV – The Company We Keep**

“We have this entire library surrounded, ma’am,” SSgt. Eddison’s voice rang out from a megaphone. He was outside with both Toronto Police personnel and several SDI-hired operatives authorized by Mr. Gerald Selfridge to assist in apprehending Skye. They had tracked down Skye and Finn’s location with help from the advanced tracking tech that Brandt had access to.

Eddison motioned to his Emergency Task Force personnel and Brandt’s strike team to enter the library, which had been locked down and evacuated.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Finn hid behind the computer desk along with Skye. “It’s bad enough we’ve got Brandt and the SDI goon squad after us, but now the police?”

Skye bowed her head, her eyes closed. She already had one hell of a day, and having Toronto Police openly working with the very same people that had tried to hunt her down with extreme prejudice seemed like icing on the cake.

Without warning, Skye leapt over the table and stood in place as the Toronto Police’s ETF unit and SDI’s commandos all converged to where she was standing.

Finn peeked out slightly, wondering what the hell Skye was thinking at the moment.

Skye raised her hands and put them behind her head, then kneeling to the ground. This move baffled just about everyone in the computer hall that was present.

“I thought she’d put up more of a fight…” SSgt. Eddison looked to Brandt. He was told that Skye was a threat to be taken seriously, but this was the total opposite of those reports.

There was a look of disbelief on Finn’s face. He was left in confusion at Skye surrendering herself like this. But then, he was reminded of the time that he and Skye first encountered Brandt inside the PATH walkway, wherein Skye feigned giving up to get the drop on her enemies.

As if to confirm Finn’s suspicions, Skye quickly glanced towards him and winked at him.

“Don’t you boys ever learn?” Skye raised herself before pulling the one ETF officer that had his gun pointed at her and held him in a sleeper grip. She then forced the officer to fire his gun at the knees of his peers and the SDI soldiers before knocking the ETF officer out with a back elbow.

Only Brandt and SSgt. Eddison were left standing by the time the dust settled. Eddison pointed his pistol at Skye.

“Sir, please, my problem’s not with you. Step aside.” Skye remained firm. “Your partner there should be the one you arrest, not me.”

“Miss, you shot several of my men just now,” Eddison kept his aim and focus towards Skye. “What makes you think I’ll believe a word you say about Agent Brandt?”

“That man and his hired guns have been chasing me endlessly since I got he–” Skye’s explanation was brought to an abrupt end as she held her head in pain before collapsing to her knees.

Eddison had no idea what was going on, so he lowered his gun. Meanwhile, Finn slowly lifted himself up and saw Skye suffering from what he knew was another memory lapse. He struggled to leap over the overturned table to check up on her friend.

“Hey, hey, Skye, you alright?” Finn leaned a bit closer to see if his young friend was feeling fine.

Brandt saw what was happening and began to speak into his earpiece.

“Additional units, you have my full authorization to take out the male accomplice of our target,” Brandt smugly issued his order. “Shoot to kill.”

SSgt. Eddison looked around and saw more of Brandt’s reinforcements emerging through the entrances of the first-floor computer labs of Robarts Library. He then stared at SDI’s top agent with a look of tranquil anger.

“This was never a part of the agreement, Mr. Brandt!” Eddison protested. “You are clearly violating the law if you’re planning to shoot an unarmed person.”

“Spare me your bleeding heart stories, Sergeant.” Brandt knocked Eddison out before pointing his gun towards the Toronto Police officer’s unconscious body. He had enough of being restrained by moral qualms.

With his full focus on attempting to kill Eddison for his conscience, Brandt failed to take into account Skye instantaneously shoulder-checking him to the ground.

“You’re not gonna kill anyone tonight, you son of a bitch.” Skye was pissed. She had enough of Brandt’s manhunt and she wasn’t going to let anyone else get hurt.

“Shoot her!” Brandt screamed to his reinforcements. “But do not kill her! Simply shoot to incapacitate! The Chief needs her alive for the next step of the plan…”

Skye evaded the gunfire from the SDI troops fast enough to realize that they were using the specialized rounds that her superhuman abilities weren’t immune to. She went to where Finn was and quickly scooped him up so that they could escape.

“Wait, why are we running away?” Finn questioned Skye’s plan.

“I’m getting you out of here,” Skye responded flatly. “You’re hurting badly, and I’m not gonna let Brandt and his soldiers kill you just to get to me.”

Despite agreeing with Skye’s plan, Finn couldn’t help but notice that there was a certain look of uneasiness in his friend’s eyes. He knew that Skye still wasn’t feeling like herself due to what happened today — and it was clearly beginning to affect her judgement.

With an entire army of special forces soldiers under the employ of a private contractor giving chase to them, Skye and Finn ran up the stairs, hoping to escape their pursuers. They ran into one of the Quiet Rooms, which had a few students studying on their laptops.

 _“Oh, for the love of…”_ Skye cursed herself for running into a dead end.

There was nowhere to run, except a long fall from the second floor of Robarts. Brandt and his special ops soldiers had Skye and Finn surrounded.

“It’s over.” Brandt warned. “I suggest you surrender yourself for real this time, and nobody will get hurt.”

“Why the hell do you even want me?” Skye asked defiantly.

“Your cooperation ensures that my employers are able to usher in the next step in human evolution,” Brandt proclaimed his intentions. “I myself don’t believe in that stuff and I really just want to kill you now, but The Chief made it clear to bring you in alive. So, just give up now.”

 _“Okay, Skye. Either you let yourself be taken by crazy armed men who want to turn you into a human science experiment, or escape safely by leaping out of the window. How hard could it be?”_ Skye closed her eyes for a brief moment before deciding her next course of action.

“Hang on to me!” Skye shouted to Finn, who quickly complied. He grabbed on to Skye in a tight embrace, almost prepared for what would come next.

Skye leapt backwards — with Finn still in her arms and gunfire raging past the two — through the second floor windows and into the tall bushes below them, her body acting as a cushion so that Finn could survive the fall.

Brandt looked down below and saw no trace of Skye or Finn amongst the bushes.

“Sir, we’ve lost her.” Brandt spoke into his earpiece.

“Fall back immediately, Agent Brandt. I have a new assignment for you.” The Chief’s voice spoke clearly.  

The ex-JTF-2 operative motioned to his subordinates to leave the area. Their mission was done.

Skye recovered and rolled Finn off of her. But, something was wrong. Finn was unconscious. There was blood pouring out of the back of his jacket, and a noticeable bullet hole dangerously near his spine.

“Oh my god… no… no… no…” Skye spoke in an unnatural whimper. The unthinkable was seemingly inevitable.

For the first time in her young life, Skye panicked. She felt fear not for herself, but for Finn’s life. 

Skye quickly realized that her recklessness may have ended up killing one of the only people that she was comfortable in calling a friend, which only served to make her lose even more confidence in herself and her extraordinary abilities.

With her body beginning to feel as weak as her mind was at the moment, Skye leaned Finn’s unconscious body against the wall of Robarts. Her mouth began to quiver in horror.

Skye was at a loss on what to do next — a stark contrast to how she usually did things without much difficulty. She thought that cushioning their fall by using her body would be enough to get her and Finn out of harm’s way. She just never took into account the gunfire while she and Finn made their leap of faith.

Hopelessness and surrender were things that were simply not in Skye’s vocabulary. But now, as she helplessly looked on at her friend nearly at death’s door, these were two things that were staring Skye right in the face — almost mocking her for daring to be brave in the face of impossible odds.

As snow began to fall from the heavens on this cold January evening, Skye palmed her face with both hands and began to weep uncontrollably.

“Don’t die on me, Finn….” Skye’s screams of sorrow quickly turned into a quiet whisper.

With tears of sadness still painting her grief-stricken face, Skye sat beside Finn’s comatose body and resigned herself to defeat.

It appeared that this was one battle that Skye failed to win.


	5. Chapter 5

**Act V – A Flicker of Light**

_SafeHaven Homeless Shelter – January 27th, 2016_

**Skye pulled Finn from the taxi they rode in, carrying** her friend in her arms. He thankfully was alive, but just barely. She declined bringing Finn to the hospital, as her current status as an apparent wanted criminal would make admitting Finn to any medical facility a complicated issue. So she really had no choice but to bring him back to SafeHaven.

“You’re gonna be fine, Finn…” Skye kept repeating that mantra in rapid succession, even if Finn couldn’t hear what she was saying. 

Skye’s voice was unusually meek and close to breaking down, as if she was ready to give it all up just to see Finn survive his injuries.

Inside the shelter, Miss Meredith Meads was there, along with the shelter’s in-house doctor, Peter Britton. They followed Skye into Finn’s apartment, allowing for the young purple-haired woman to carry her friend into the room.

“Will you be needing my help in assisting Mr. Finwick?” Dr. Peter Britton asked.

Skye shook her head. She was at a loss for words and unable to provide a direct answer to Dr. Britton. In response, the middle-aged doctor simply left a first-aid kit for Skye to use, before leaving Finn’s apartment along with Miss Meads.

Once she laid Finn onto the bed inside his apartment, Skye slumped herself against it and began to tear up once more in a rare display of guilt. She felt responsible for Finn’s current condition, a sense of despair kicking in and beating Skye in a way that no actual opponent ever could.

Skye buried her head into her arms, tears flowing freely onto the sleeves of her brown jacket. She always thought herself as somebody that was strong enough to endure even the roughest of storms. After all, she had survived years and years of having fractured memories. This time, however, it appeared that this was one storm that not even Skye could weather.

It seemed as though the weight of the world on Skye’s shoulders finally came crashing down on her… or so she thought.

Like a glimmer of light, a sudden realization dawned upon Skye as she looked over the cuts on her hands beginning to heal up on their own. She knew that her body had some unique ability to heal any injuries she sustained. Perhaps a drop of her own blood might’ve been enough to somewhat help save Finn’s life.

Skye took the first aid kit and found a syringe amongst the various medical supplies that were inside it. Without hesitation, Skye injected herself with it, getting just a small portion of her blood into the barrel of the syringe.

 _“Well, here goes nothing…”_ Skye wasn’t really one for prayer, but she prayed that her last act of desperation would be a literal lifesaver.

Skye rolled up Finn’s sleeve, taking time to rub the spot she was going to inject with alcohol. She pressed down the syringe’s plunger to expel the portion of her blood into Finn’s arm.

“Oh god, wake up, Finn…” Skye put her hand on the comatose Finn, hoping against hope that her friend would pull through with the added assistance of her own blood accelerating the healing process.

“Hunh….S-S–Skh…..nngh?” Finn mumbled, his eyes slowly opening. He looked towards his hand that Skye was holding firmly, managing a weak smile. He could barely move at all thanks to the injuries he suffered, but Finn was at least going to live.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, Finch Finwick…” Skye wiped away the tears from her face before giving the bedridden Finn a massive hug. She was relieved. It felt like at least one weight was lifted off her shoulder.

“How ‘m I evvn…alive?” Finn slurred before noticing the syringe that was on the small desk beside his bed. “Did you….?”

“I had no other choice.” Skye explained herself. “I just thought that maybe a bit of my blood could help heal your wounds, especially with my powers.”

“Duzzat mean I got superpowers now?” Finn managed to have some form of excitement at the possibility of maybe having powers like Skye’s own abilities.

“I dunno.” Skye was unsure what effects her blood would have on Finn beyond slowly healing his wounds.

“I’m just glad you’re okay.”

For a singular moment in time, the pain and sorrow that was hovering over Skye disappeared. It had been an emotionally trying day, but seeing Finn survive his injuries was a small ray of light that gave Skye hope that maybe her efforts in stopping SDI’s scheming wasn’t all for naught.

—

**_Toronto General Health Centre – The Midnight Hour_ **

Isaac Ellerton had been resting well for over two weeks now. His wounds had healed, and it seemed the life-threatening illness had disappeared for the moment. Kimmy Anderson was out of town for a trip to Vancouver with some friends at SafeHaven, so Isaac was just here by himself. So naturally, he decided that he’d indulge himself in a midnight snack from one of the vending machines near his room.

Visiting hours were long done for the day and the hospital’s lights were mostly shut, save for a few hallway lights. Isaac went to the vending machine, a dollar and twenty-five cents in hand to buy some chips.

Without warning, a shot rang out, piercing through Isaac’s head in gruesome fashion. His body fell towards the vending machine, blood splattering all over the glass. He never got a chance to see who it was that shot him.

And as such, Isaac’s life ended not due to the ailment that plagued him, but because of a cold-blooded kill. There would be no romantic date with Kimmy. No more future free of disease to look up. Just the cold embrace of death that took Isaac Ellerton permanently.

**Next: Falling Upwards**

**(c)2016 M. Quill, WQW Productions**


End file.
